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I just finished spraying my wife's mustang black using SPI universal clear. This stuff is great. Lays slick and smooth, easy as hell to wetsand( 1 week later). I will never use another clear again but SPI. I used a Plus gun with 1.4 tip, 32 psi.

The true test of a good paint is how well it holds up over time. Almost all paint will look good right after it's sprayed but a couple years later will tell you how it compares with other products. Have you used many other paint products?

The SPI is a polyurethane, most clears are just urethanes.
Nothing wrong with urethanes but keep in mind, in order to
be used for aircraft the clear has to pass the skydrol test and
only a true poly will do that, SPI passes that test.
So it is a great clear.
SPI has other clears too, the Universal is a soft clear making it
ideal for flexible items and plastic parts, and easy buffing.
But for dark color cars their Euro clear is harder and easier to keep
the buffing swirls out of.
I have the universal on my daily driver now for 5 yrs, never waxed
and still looks as good as day 1.
So I like it a lot

The first urethane on the market was poly and as the technology improved most of the major manufacturers went to acrylic urethane.

I've been told the urethanes are a little more user friendly as
far as spraying, I never have noticed a difference personally.
I have used several of the cheapest clears I could find over
the past 20 yrs for my collision repairs and all of them held
up just fine.
I haven't had a failure or return from any of them.
But realistically, for those jobs, most owners don't
keep their cars long enough to know.

It's my understanding that after the second world war the Germans were not permitted to use certain chemicals so they couldn't paint their cars with chemicals that were available at the time. Well, leave it to the Germans, they came up with better products, mainly urethane paints and hence polyurethane. I believe that the urethane evolved from poly to acrylic in order to add attributes like UV protection and color enhancement but that's just my own understanding and I'm sure that acrylic urethane has other features that older products didn't have. The first polyurethane that I used was DuPont Imron which was VERY dangerous to spray but I don't know if the more recent poly products are just as dangerous. All hardened paints are quite toxic so be sure to wear "good" breath protection when spraying anything with a hardener in the mix.

The only clear they have in 3/4 gallon is the MS clear. Reason it is packaged this way is because it is a 3:1 mix. You are buying exactly 4 quarts of mixed clear. No wasted hardener sitting on your shelf. If you paint everyday, not a big deal to have that extra hardener for the next gallon. For the guy who might not paint for the next 6-12 months and is trying to keep his cost down it means the world. The turbo clear used to be packaged this way, but has since been discontinued in lieu of their Euro clear. If you want the cheap stuff, keep using the ppg.

the PPG clear that I use is mix 4:1 so there is no left over hardener so your argument has no meaning.

the PPG clear that I use is mix 4:1 so there is no left over hardener so your argument has no meaning.

You totally missed the point, and I wasn't looking for an argument. The point is, their MS clear is a 3:1 mix. Most other companies out there that have a 3:1 mix clear do not fill their gallon can up with only 3/4 product...much like sikkens HS+ that I've used for years. You have to buy 2 qt hardeners (that is how i purchase the hardener, not by the gallon) and only use maybe a 1/4 of the 2nd one to finish off the gallon of clear...therefore leaving you with leftover hardener that may go un-used for a long time after opening.

You made it a point to mention some of their products being only a 3/4 gallon for some reason....I was merely pointing out why. How dare them not make a customer buy extra hardener that they may never need again.....can't believe they would be on the lookout for the customer. So which costs more? SPI being 3/4 full or other 3:1 mix products that require you to buy that extra hardener that may go wasted?

The true test of a good paint is how well it holds up over time. Almost all paint will look good right after it's sprayed but a couple years later will tell you how it compares with other products. Have you used many other paint products?

I've used the PPG Omni line, granted not top of the line, but on par with SPI as far as price goes. The Omni clear sucks in comparison, hard as hell to wetsand, no where near the gloss right out of the gun and no matter what you try to do, there is always orange peel. With the SPI, orange peel free finish the very 1st time i used it(it would be hard to use on production work to match factory orange peel). I used pro-spray base under the clear, coverage was quick, total hiding in 2 coats. I hear the SPI holds up well, although this will not be a daily driver anymore.

I'm not advertising for SPI, but was merely agreeing with the OP on how well the product was.

I've used the PPG Omni line, granted not top of the line, but on par with SPI as far as price goes. The Omni clear sucks in comparison, hard as hell to wetsand, no where near the gloss right out of the gun and no matter what you try to do, there is always orange peel. With the SPI, orange peel free finish the very 1st time i used it(it would be hard to use on production work to match factory orange peel). I used pro-spray base under the clear, coverage was quick, total hiding in 2 coats. I hear the SPI holds up well, although this will not be a daily driver anymore.

I'm not advertising for SPI, but was merely agreeing with the OP on how well the product was.

Thanks for your input, if I get a chance I may check out some SPI products.

Damn guys, not trying to start a war here. This is not an SPI ad either, I simply used the product three or four times now and I love how it lays. It self levels and looks really good.

I have been doing small jobs for the most part like bike parts and what not and when I gave this stuff a try it was like out of the box awesome. No buffing or wet sanding required for any type of great gloss. Lay it how you want it to look and man it is like it is inside a candy shell. I'll see how it holds up though, even if for one of my soon to be show cars, I'll use this because it looks so deep and awesome.

Maybe since it is softer that it not be used for a daily driver out in the sun all day, but still for an out of the box shine like this, it's hard to get that from other products.

You totally missed the point, and I wasn't looking for an argument. The point is, their MS clear is a 3:1 mix. Most other companies out there that have a 3:1 mix clear do not fill their gallon can up with only 3/4 product...much like sikkens HS+ that I've used for years. You have to buy 2 qt hardeners (that is how i purchase the hardener, not by the gallon) and only use maybe a 1/4 of the 2nd one to finish off the gallon of clear...therefore leaving you with leftover hardener that may go un-used for a long time after opening.

You made it a point to mention some of their products being only a 3/4 gallon for some reason....I was merely pointing out why. How dare them not make a customer buy extra hardener that they may never need again.....can't believe they would be on the lookout for the customer. So which costs more? SPI being 3/4 full or other 3:1 mix products that require you to buy that extra hardener that may go wasted?

If you re read my first post. You are trying to explain to me what I already said. so again you were no help to me

boy I guess im missing out on using 3:1 clear then huh...(the point of the 3:1 comment I made is that you only get 1 gallon sprayable material, And with the PPG clears I use I get 1 gallon and 1 quart sprayable for the same cost ) To bad for me,I will just stick with my PPG 4:1 clears and not worry about it.

The only thing I was interested in is what exact PPG clear he was comparing it to.

boy I guess im missing out on using 3:1 clear then huh...(the point of the 3:1 comment I made is that you only get 1 gallon sprayable material, And with the PPG clears I use I get 1 gallon and 1 quart sprayable for the same cost ) To bad for me,I will just stick with my PPG 4:1 clears and not worry about it.

The only thing I was interested in is what exact PPG clear he was comparing it to.

I don't remember the numbers off hand, I'll have to check the cans. I did a few projects with different materials so it is hard to keep track. I think the one ppg was a universal clear, J something.

I am going to be painting my mail box, I am going to use SPI clear on it and see how it holds up in the weather 100% of the time. This won't account for the air speeds and sandblasting, but will be a true sign of the weather.

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